Former Nigeria Super Eagles Coach Stephen Keshi demanding $5 million pay-out

Former Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi has demanded US$5m (£3.2m) compensation from the Nigeria Football Federation following his dismissal from the job.

Keshi was sacked at the start of July and has been replaced by Sunday Oliseh.

He has written to the NFF through his lawyers demanding the money, claiming damages for defamation.

However, NFF officials believe the claim has no substance and are confident the body will not be forced to compensate Keshi.

BBC Sport understands that Keshi is anxious to protect his reputation and profile in football circles after the NFF disciplinary committee made various allegations against him.

Keshi has yet to take the case to court as he is hoping the matter can be resolved amicably.

The former Togo and Mali coach becomes the second former Nigeria coach in five years to protest against dismissal by the NFF - his predecessor Samson Siasia launched legal action in October 2011 but later withdrew his case and said he wanted to look ahead.

Keshi, a former captain of the national team, led the side to the 2013 Nations Cup title in South Africa and also steered the Super Eagles to the Round of 16 at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

His contract was not renewed after the World Cup but he later returned on a match-by-match deal, which ended in November after the team's failure to reach the 2015 Nations Cup finals.

As caretaker coach, Keshi endured a turbulent 2014, in which he was sacked by the NFF and only reinstalled after intervention from then Nigeria President Goodluck Jonathan. The 53-year-old, who returned for his third spell in April, led his side to a 2-0 home win against Chad in a 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in June, but was shown the exit door after less than three months into a two-year deal.

BBC

Video - The struggle of buying a house in Abuja, Nigeria

Many Nigerians aren't able to own their homes, as very few banks there offer mortgages. But it's hoped that new government initiatives will be able to boost the rates of home ownership.

Related story: Video - Nigeria's housing scarcity issue

Video - Housing crisis in Abuja, Nigeria

10 year old female suicide bomber kills 19 in Nigeria

A blast set off by a female suicide bomber tore through a crowded market in the northeastern Nigerian city of Damaturu on Sunday, killing 19 people and wounding 47, the emergency response agency said.

No one claimed responsibility for the explosion but it is the latest attack in the last few weeks that bear the hallmarks of militant Islamist group Boko Haram.

Hundreds of people have been killed in bombings and shootings across northern Nigeria since Muhammadu Buhari, who has promised to crush the group, was inaugurated as president on May 29.

"The death toll has gone up to 19 dead and 47 injured," National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) spokesman Mohammed Kanar said.

The attack took place six days after a suicide bomber killed three policemen at a checkpoint on the outskirts of the city.

And earlier this month at least nine people were killed in the city by a female suicide bomber as worshippers gathered to mark the Muslim holiday Eid al-Fitr.

Boko Haram controlled a swathe of land around the size of Belgium at the end of 2014 but have been pushed out of most of that territory by Nigerian troops in the last few months, with military help from neighbouring Chad, Niger and Cameroon.

Since then the militants have carried out attacks in the north and neighbouring countries.

At least 19 people were killed in a suicide bombing in the northern Cameroonian town of Maroua on Saturday.

Since becoming president, Buhari has made a number of changes aimed at tackling the insurgency, including the replacement of his defence chiefs.

He moved Nigeria's defence command centre to Maiduguri, the birthplace of the jihadi sect, and has worked with counterparts in neighbouring countries to set up a multinational force with headquarters in Chad's capital, N'Djamena.


Reuters

Video - One year marked without polio in Nigeria

Nigeria has made a vital step towards being declared polio free, after marking a year without a recorded case.

It can now be taken off the list of countries where the disease is endemic, if the World Health Organization (WHO) confirms the results.

Nigeria had struggled to contain polio since some northern states imposed a ban on vaccinations in 2003.

Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries to record cases in 2015.

Global health experts are hoping polio can become only the second human infectious disease to be eradicated, after smallpox.

Nigeria will still have to wait a further two years without a recorded case to be certified as polio free.

Polio can only be prevented by vaccination as there is no cure.

The 2003 immunisation ban in some northern states followed allegations by some state governors and religious leaders in the mainly Muslim north that vaccines were contaminated by Western powers to spread sterility and HIV among Muslims.

Independent tests ordered by the Nigerian government in 2004 declared that the vaccines were safe.

But there was still some hostility in a few areas to vaccination drives, with violent attacks against health workers.

The last attack was in 2013 when nine polio vaccinators were shot dead at health centres in the northern Nigerian city of Kano.

BBC

Related story: Video - Nigeria reaching a landmark of 6 months without a single case of polio

 Video - Bill Gates partners with Nigeria to erradicate Polio

Nigeria rejects degrees from Online Universities

The National Universities Commission, NUC, on Thursday called on Nigerians to stop patronising online universities and other degree awarding institutions operating online.

Speaking at a press conference, the NUC’s Public Relations officer, Ibrahim Yakasai, said that degrees obtained online are not accepted in the country.

“Nigeria will not recognize online degrees. Online degrees are not accepted in Nigeria at the moment,” he said.

Mr. Yakasai warned Nigerian students and parents against patronising Maryam Abacha American University in Niger Republic.

“We wish to restate that as the only quality assurance agency for universities in Nigeria, the NUC is maintaining its stand that degrees from Maryam Abacha University will not be accepted in Nigeria” he said

He noted that the Commission has been inundated with enquiries from some Nigerian students who had been offered admission to the university.

He said the concerned students were offered admissions on part-time basis with a graduation time of four semesters for programmes like Nursing, Medical Laboratory Science, Public Health among others.

Mr.Yakasai explained that in Nigeria the duration for a fulltime degree programme is not less than three years for direct entry and at least six years for part-time.

He said professional programmes in Science, Engineering and Health Sciences including Nursing, Medical Laboratory Science and Public Health are not offered on part-time basis in Nigeria.

He added that all part- time cross border education in Nigeria are not allowed.

Mr. Yakasai said the Maryam Abacha University admits Nigerian students who do not have the basic requirements to gain admission into the nation’s tertiary institutions in addition to running courses such as Nursing, Medical Laboratory Science on part-time basis which, according to him, is not acceptable.

Mr. Yakasai said all countries are at liberty to accept any qualification they wish to.

Many Nigerians enroll annually in online schools based in the United States and the United Kingdom, and other countries.

Premium Times